The first FULL Holy Land day....

Just to let you know, I am for some reason unable to attach pictures . . . I don't know if it's the connection or the computer. So, I will keep trying and when I am able to, I will come back and 'edit' these posts by adding the pictures.

Ok - our first full day began with a walk on the beach of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea at sunrise. We then re-loaded all of our luggage and got on the bus and headed to Caesarea. These are ruins from Crusader times, but what was from crusader times was built on top of a city built by King Herod in the 1st century bc. Peter stayed here with Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, and converted he and his family - the first Gentile converts. Paul was also imprisoned here and then sent from here to Rome as a Roman prisoner. (Acts 10:1-48; Acts 23;23 - 26:32; Acts 27:1-2)

From Caesarea, we went up to Mt. Carmel. It was amazing here, we could see Nazareth, Megiddo, the whole of the Valley of Jezreal, and on the other side, the Mediterranean. This is where the prophet Elijah has a contest with the prophets of Baal to prove who is God in Israel - it is a very entertaining passage. (I Kings 18:1-40)

After Mt. Carmel, we went on to Nazareth. We saw the Church of the Annunciation, a traditional site where Mary was visited by Gabriel and told she would be the mother of the Messiah... It was a very beautiful church. Next door was a St. Joseph something or other church, where they believe they had found Joseph's workshop and built a church over it. The big thing is - Jesus grew up here. This was where his childhood was spent that we know so little about - not much other than "...Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." Luke 2:52 Our final visit in Nazareth was to the synagog where Jesus - after being baptised and spending the 40 days in the wilderness -returned to Nazareth and read the Isaiah passage, and said "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." This was very cool - I know the actual building we were in was not the actual synagog; but had been recreated by one church or another, but it remained very simple and seemed realistic. Our pastor sat on the raised 'stage' upfront and explained how Jesus would have stood to read and then sat down to teach. . . (Luke 1:26-38; Luke 4:14-30; among others in Mathew and Mark)

After Nazareth, we drove to the Sea of Galilee, where we checked in to the Ein Gev, a very nice little resort on the East Shore of the Lake. I always think of the verse in Luke chapter 8 when Jesus says to his disciples "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." This is when Jesus calmed the storm and then met Legion on the other side - the man posessed by many demons - and Jesus drove the demons out of the man and into the herd of pigs and they rushed down the steep slope and were drowned.

I will continue with the rest of the trip soon, My internet connection is about up and we have our last full day tomorrow. As I said, I will edit the posts with pictures when I get a different connection and/or computer.

Love to all - can't wait to get home with Gage (the dogs too!)

Stacyjo